


Afterthought

by reversetheuniverse



Category: Homestuck
Genre: (I'm officially discontinuing this. Thank you to all who read it!), F/M, Post-Sburb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-25
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-06 05:39:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1846396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reversetheuniverse/pseuds/reversetheuniverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You haven't made music in a while," she comments. You realize that she's right, you haven't done that in a while. Somehow the turntables migrated into your closet, along with anything else you used to own. All your old interests were pushed aside right after the game due to the fact that you, John, Rose, and Jade all had to learn how to do everything on your own. The four of you decided that it would be best to stick together for awhile.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Time Caller

"Dave, get out of bed," something jabs at your side. You attempt to swat the annoying pest away, but much like an alarm clock, it just won't shut up. "God, why do you have to be so difficult?" the voice groans. You continue to keep yourself burrowed in your covers tightly. The thing jabs at you again, successfully knocking you out of your bed onto the hard, wooden floor. You land with a graceful _oomf_ , rolling out of the grey comforter to face your best friend, John Egbert. Although your vision is slightly groggy from breaking from your sleep cycle, you can still make out the visible frown on John's face.

"What time is it?" you yawn, stretching your arms above your head.

"Oh, shut the fuck up. Quit asking questions you already know the answer to," he scoffs. A small smile plays at your lips. He sighs in response, giving you a soft kick in the leg with his left foot. "Get up. Jade made us all breakfast." You spring up immediately in response, following him out of the room and down the hall. He turns to you as you stride beside him.

"What were you dreaming about, anyway? This is the fifth time this week I've come in to wake you up and you've been smiling and drooling in your sleep. It's grossing me out to be honest." You suddenly remember to wipe the drool off the side of your cheek with your forearm. He raises his eyebrows. "Was it about hot babes?" You roll your eyes and ignore him. "It was hot babes!" he exclaims as you walk into the living room.

"What about hot babes?" Rose inquires from the couch, sipping at her tea and concentrating on the newspaper.

"Dave was having a dream about hot babes," John blurts. You punch him in the arm.

"Ow," he rubs it gingerly.

"What kind of hot babes?" she questions further, taking the initiative of looking up at you this time in order to waggle your eyebrows. You curse at her in your mind for being able to read you so well, knowing exactly who it was you were dreaming about.

"Only your favorites: Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman. You know, the usual," you ooze sarcasm.

"Ha ha, very funny, Dave," she says unamusedly.

"Food, guys!" Jade yells from the kitchen. You almost forgot about breakfast for a moment, realizing suddenly how hungry you really are. You jog over to the table in order to get first dibs of the food. Your gaze meets Jade's and she shoots you a quizzical look.

"I see you haven't updated your wardrobe yet, Dave," she chuckles a bit. You look down and suddenly realize that you forgot to throw pants and a shirt on before coming out of your room. You are literally standing in the room only wearing your very outdated record boxers. You can feel a brush of heat rise to your face but then swallow it, keeping your cool.

"There's no need to change the Strider style. That shit's wicked tight," you say smoothly.

"Is that what you call it?" Rose jests, appearing at the table. You look at her unamusedly.

"Don't you have a dictionary to read?" She snorts.

"As ever, Dave, your comebacks are on point," she laughs.

"Enough bickering, let's eat!" John demands. Jade sets the plate of pancakes and bowl of scrambled eggs on the table. The four of you pass around plates to each other and you and John shovel food onto your plates eagerly. You place a pad of butter on top of the pancakes and then pour maple syrup on top, cutting into your stack and taking a huge bite out of it.

"God, these pancakes are fucking baller. I don't know how you manage to do it, Harley. I thought John was supposed to be the food wizard," you mumble through a mouthful of pancake.

"I _bake_ , not cook. There's a big difference, Dave," John scoffs.

"Oh, I'm sorry Betty fucking Crocker. I didn't mean to upset you," you chide, but then the whole table goes quiet. You had almost forgotten where the past five years of your life had really gone, and you had almost forgotten one of the bigger parts of it.

"Don't you even fucking dare," John whispers. A wave of relief washes over you as soon as you realize John is only joking with you. Rose and Jade seem to ease up, too, the tension leaving as soon as they return to eating their food.

"Anyone have a job interview yet?" Rose inquires.

"I do!" Jade jubilates. "It's at that science museum down off of Madison Avenue. I go there at five today."

"Alone? Isn't that through the dangerous parts of town?" John asks.

"Well, yeah . . . "Jade trails.

"You should have someone go with you. How about it, Dave?" Rose turns to you. Ever since you found out the two of you were related, she seemed to be able to play the part of 'annoying sister you never wanted' frighteningly well. Jade beams her teeth at you.

"Could you, Dave? It'd really be nice to have someone with me!" You want to say no but her puppy dog eyes and the fact that you've barely left the apartment in the last three weeks seem hinder you.

"Yeah, I'll do it," you give in. Her lips pull together into that goddamn adorable dimple grin that messes with your mind so much and you look away quickly. "I'm gonna go get dressed and what not," you say aloud to no one in particular, rising from the table and walking off toward your room at the end of the hall.

You enter your room and change out of your record boxers into a pair of crimson, plaid ones. You pull on a pair of your favorite faded jeans and then pick up a few shirts off the ground, using the old sniff test method of finding a good shirt. You find a halfway decent gray, cotton v-neck and pull it over your head. You almost miss wearing your favorite scratched record tee, but don't regret packing them away. Plenty of them had seen enough of the light of day and were retired for good. You always kept one in your drawer, just in case you were feeling ambitious enough to wear it, but never had an occasion like that occured. It was almost a comfort having it there, as if it were like an old blanket or stuffed bear from younger, sweeter childhood days. It was also better than keeping a drawer full of puppet ass.

Amongst the mess of clothes and blankets strewn about you manage to find your favorite charcoal black jacket, a pair of plain white socks, and red converses (these babies will never go out of style). You put them on and then go to the mirror on top of your wardrobe. You apply deodorant and then give yourself a quick once over, deciding that you're adequately ready for the day after you run your fingers through your sandy blond hair. You remember your signature shades and put them on, exiting your room as soon as you have done so. You make your way back out into the dining room, finding it completely deserted save for Jade.

"Oh, Dave, I'm glad you're here! Mind helping me clean up?" she asks. You nod your head and go to the table, grabbing plates and piling them one on top of the other. She picks up dishes along side you and you stop immediately when both of you grab the last fork on the table. It's a totally cliche movie moment that still manages to make you flustered as all get out. She sheepishly retracts her hand and then turns on her heel to make her way towards the sink in the kitchen, quickly forgetting the awkward exchange you just had. You follow behind and trade her the dishes for a towel, cleaning them one by one and then handing them off to you to dry.

"So," she begins, not bothering to look up from what she's doing, "We should get dinner or something after." You almost choke a little because _wow is she asking you on a date?_  "You know, cause we haven't really hung out much lately." Your chest deflates a little and you don't make eye contact with her as she hands you another dish to dry.

"Yeah, definitely," is all you manage to utter. You wipe the plate clean, waiting for her to hand you another one. She hands you another plate and right as you try to take it, she holds onto it, forcing you to look at her. She tilts her head to the side, almost like a dog (she still keeps to her dog-like tendencies, even after all this time) and furrows her brows, her face full of sorrow.

"What's wrong, Dave? Is this something about the game?" You realize she must be referring to when she was crushed under her own house. She must think you're still worried about her. Surprisingly enough, you haven't had many nightmares about the game, and the comforting thought of having your friends next to you seems to settle your nerves often. You shake your head.

"No . . . it's nothing like that . . . " you falter, gaining control of the dish in order to dry it, breaking off eye contact with her. She doesn't bother to press further and you let out an elongated breath, wiping the last dish she hands you clean. You place it in the drying rack where you put all the other dishes and then set the towel on the counter, turning around to lean against the counter. She mimics you and the two of you stand in silence, not knowing what to say to each other.

"You haven't made music in a while," she comments. You realize that she's right, you haven't done that in a while. Somehow the turntables migrated into your closet, along with anything else you used to own. All your old interests were pushed aside right after the game due to the fact that you, John, Rose, and Jade all had to learn how to do everything on your own. The four of you decided that it would be best to stick together for awhile.

You all had to manage to get an online diploma so that you could actually go out and get real jobs, so the past few months had been booked with multiple study sessions and sleepless nights. Once you were all done, each of you had a different way of dealing with life. Rose began going to community college, John picked up a lot of odd jobs, and Jade was the most productive, getting as many working jobs as possible. You had taken the liberty of spending most days cooped up inside your room. It was a mix between sleeping, eating, working out, and keeping up with your blog. You had yet to accept that you had transitioned into adulthood and had to do adult things.

Taxes were a bother (Bro had never taught you how to do taxes, let alone take care of your own laundry). Jade usually took the liberty of that and the cooking. Rose always made sure the house was stacked full of books, regardless of whether or not anyone was actually going to read them. John usually swept (no need for a vacuum when you've got a living one right in front of you.) Laundry was usually a self-task (something you failed at miserably). Money wasn't much of a problem, fortunately. Whatever your guardians had left had been enough to sustain you guys for quite awhile. You were living a comfortable lifestyle. An utterly, irrevocably boring life. It either made you totally lethargic or itching crazy to get out of a funk like that. You normally settled on the lethargic side.

So yes, music had not been your main priority anymore. Often times you did find yourself thinking of beats, melodies that would flow perfectly into one song. More often than not it was when thoughts of a certain saccharine, obsidian-headed girl ran through your mind and more often than not you pushed those thoughts aside in your head. She certainly was too busy and had no time on her hands to participate in silly tasks like that with you.

"Neither do you," you say without missing a beat, only because it was true. Whenever she made music, you made music and vice versa. It was like hot and cold, thunder and lightning: you couldn't have one without the other. Like space and time.

"Fair enough," she chuckles, and you feel the veil of tension lift up from the two of you. She moves from her position against the counter and abandons you in the kitchen, presumably to go to her room. You make the same decision to retire to your own room.

You find your way to the end of the hallway and enter your room, making sure to latch the door behind you. You make your way to the closet and take out the old turntable set. It's collected dust from months (or come to think of it, maybe even years) since you last used it. You blow the dust off from it and carefully set it on the bed. You return to your closet and find the stack of records that too have collected their fair share of dust and return to your bed, plopping down beside the turntable.

It makes you uneasy when you think that you might not even remember how to use them, but you push that thought away when you recognize how ridiculous it is. Making music is what comes most naturally to you. You look through the stack of records and pick a couple that you think you could work with. You place set them in place and then move the needles on top, watching as the records begin to spin around. You situate your head phones over your ears and then slowly graze your fingers on the records.

SWEET. FUCKING. JESUS.

You smile blissfully as you let the familiar feeling of the ridges of a record slide underneath your fingertips. It sends a sensation of sheer euphoria throughout your skin, sending a shiver up your spine. You have been missing this like hell and you had no idea. You allow yourself to get lost in the music.

You lose track of time as you spend hours mixing together all sorts of new tracks, and only realize what time it is when a knock on the door breaks your concentration.

"Shit," you mutter under your breath, abandoning your headphones with the turntables. You open the door and see Jade standing there, wearing a professional ( _hot_ ) onyx shift dress and slick black ( _super hot_ ) heels to pair with it. Her hair is done up in a ( _super sexy hot goddamn I'm she's on fire_ ) braided bun, one strand of it escaping to the side.

"You ready to go?" she asks. It takes you a good moment to get your bearings together and manage to utter a single word.

"Uh, yeah." She looks at you, puzzled.

"What? Do I not look good enough? I was hoping this would be pretty professional," she questioned.

"No, no, no, you look fine," you try to save yourself, only to dig yourself in a deeper hole. "Shit, I mean, your outfit looks appropriate for . . . " you stumble to find the words, "The only thing is it'll probably be uncomfortable to walk a few blocks in heels." Her expression softens.

"Oh, of course. I'll just put these in my bag and grab my black Converses from my room," she says, holding onto your shoulder for balance as she slips each heel off her foot. She peers over your shoulder briefly before turning to go to her room. "You've been making music again?" You feel your face redden and spot the corners of her lips tugging upward.

"Uh, yeah, I, um, I started making a music again," you stumble like an idiot over your words. A grin forms pulls across her face.

"Good," she says softly before turning on her heels toward her room. Your head spins from your encounter with her and you after a few minutes you finally manage to get your brain in order enough to make yourself shut your door. She meets you back at your spot in the hall.

"Ready to go?" You nod your head and follow behind her as she makes her way to the front door. You wonder silently to yourself how she can manage to make Converses and a dress fucking cute as all get out without looking like an absolute dork. You manage to quickly catch sight of Rose's smug smirk on your way out and in response you flip her the bird.

When the two of you get outside, you take in a big breath of fresh air. It's something you missed and quite frankly you have no idea why would ever hole yourself up in your room when you could be inhaling the scent of fresh daisies daily. Jade likes to grow them out front. She still likes to hang on to that particular hobby. You think to yourself that it's funny how someone that's changed so little has changed so much at the same time.

You and her begin walking down the steps and out toward the right side of the sidewalk, eventually matching strides together.

"Have you thought about trying to get a job?" Jade asks.

"Ah, no, not really."

"Have you tried to do anything lately?" she questions further.

"Uh, nope." She frowns.

"Then what have you been doing?" You almost consider not telling her that you really have done absolutely nothing, but you don't want to lie to her.

"I've mostly been in my room catching up on my sleep. I've also been working out," you add, just in case she thinks you've just been sitting around collecting weight, living a meaningless life.

"I have noticed your biceps have been getting larger," she giggles, and you feel your heart skip a beat. You wish she wasn't so goddamn adorable sometimes. She eventually deadpans and turns back to you. "Dave, you aren't depressed, are you? I mean, I hate to pry into your life . . . " she drags on, looking to the side. You realize that there are a lot of things diferent about her and Rose. Rose would never feel bad about prying in your life. You give Jade the satisfaction of an answer because she isn't pressuring you into it.

"I don't really know. It's not something I've thought much about. I'm sure Rose would have a thing or two to say about it." She remains quiet for a moment, lost in thought.

"You know you can always talk to me, right?" she tells you. You nod your head, because you honest to God believe that you could actually talk to her. It just comes more naturally to you.

"You're one cool chick, you know that, Harley?" you confess to her. You swear for a moment that you saw a blush creep upon her face for a brief second, but as soon as it's there, it's gone. She comes to a halt on the sidewalk, facing front.

"This is it," she says warmly, and you can almost feel excitement heat up inside her. The two of you cross the street hurriedly, then make your way up the five concrete steps leading up to the building. It looks like any old museum, and when you're inside, you suddenly realize why she likes it. It's filled wall to wall with anything and everything that has to do with outer space. She jogs up to the front desk.

"Hi, I'm Jade Harley and I'm here for an interview," she explains. The lady nods her head and points over at a hall to her right.

"You're gonna wanna go to the main office. It's down the hall and it'll be the first door on your left," she instructs. Jade nods her head rapidly and starts to take off. You stop her.

"Jade, your shoes?" you point out. She looks down at her own two feet and utters a small, "Oh!" when she realizes her Converses are still on her feet. She quickly replaces the sneakers with the slick, black heels she had been wearing before and then takes off, deserting you in the lobby of the museum. You find a bench and sit on it, leaning back against the wall, waiting patiently for her to return. You notice your eye-lids suddenly feel heavy and let them close, resting until she returns.

"Dave! Dave! Daaaaaaaave!" you are jolted awake by being furiously shaken. You open your eyes and see an bubbly Jade in front of you.

"What? What is it?" you ask, yawning.

"I got the job!" she exclaims giddily. You rise from the bench quickly and pat her head.

"Congrats, Harley," you tell her, but get the breath practically knocked out of you when she suddenly wraps herself around you, pulling you into a tight hug. It warms your chest and cheeks as she presses into you.

"Thanks for taking me here." Your face is full of shock still from being caught off guard and you wonder what really constituted the hug because you only walked with her. You let her have the hug (you weren't really going to protest) and snake your arms around her to hug her back.

"No problem." She releases herself from you and coughs a little, clearing her throat.

"We should probably get going," she smiles sheepishly, tucking the little strand of hair that was loose from her bun behind her ear. She replaces her heels with the Converses once again and the two of you exit the building, standing out on the sidewalk.

"Where do you want to eat? It'll be my treat," you tell her. She looks up for a moment, her mouth twisted in thought.

"Hmmm . . . is that little Italian restaurant on the corner of Bale Street okay?" she asks.

"Sounds good to me." You descend down the steps and take a left, Jade following closely behind you. She manages to match your pace.

"So, what exactly are you doing for this job?" you query.

"It's actually security work," she sighs, "But if I do a good job, I'm sure I can work my way up in no time!"

"They're probably never gonna let you leave that job now. You'll be the best shooter they've ever had, shooting down all the thieves just itching to steal a whole shit ton of moon rocks," you smirk.

"Don't you go planning anything, Dave," she warns.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Harley." You look up in time to see the Italian restaurant Jade was talking about, Angelo's. You walk inside, making your way to the counter.

"Just two?" the hostess asks. You nod your head and she grabs two menus, seating you two in a booth toward the back of the restaurant. The restaurant has mood lighting, with a candle placed at each table. You and Jade open your menus at the same time, scanning them carefully for something you might like to eat. Someone appears at your table a few minutes later.

"Can I get you something to drink?" he asks.

"Sprite, please," Jade says politely.

"Do you have apple juice?" you inquire slyly. The waiter looks at you.

"Uh, yeah."

"I'll have a pitcher full of that," you tell him. He stares at you for a moment to see if you're punking him or something then writes the order down.

"Anything else?" You look at Jade.

"Ready to order?" She nods her head. "Okay, I'll take the Chicken Parmesan," you order, handing him your menu.

"I'll have the ravioli with meat sauce," Jade instructs. The guy scrawls it down then collects her menu.

"We'll be back with your order briefly." The waiter deserts you, leaving you and Jade to yourselves.

"So, the ravioli eh? Bold choice," you joke.

"Just trying to be authentic," she smirks. You roll your eyes at her.

"You can't get any more authentic than a generic American Italian restaurant, dammit," you pound your fist on the table. Jade snickers.

"Oh, come on. You'll like it just fine. Besides, you agreed to go here," she points out. You shrug.

"Just cause I agreed to it does not under any circumstances mean that I'll like it. Of course," you add, "They are serving me a pitcher full of applejuice so I can't complain about that. I seriously did not think he would say yes to that."

"I didn't think he would, either. He kind of looked at you like you were pulling a prank on him or something," she giggles.

"Nah, I leave the prank pulling to John. Besides, if he found out I was pranking without him he would kill me. Not that I'm afraid of puny little Egbert, but you know. I can't mess up a friendship like that. We're bros. Of course, he's not my actual Bro, but you get the--" She cuts you off.

"Rambling, Dave." You thin your lips.

"Right, sorry." You look around the restaurant and notice that barely anyone else is here. It makes you suddenly uncomfortable, the intimacy of the setting. You notice that there is a rose in a small vase on your table and realize that the hostess thought the two of you were going on a date. You glance over at Jade, who is looking nowhere near your general direction. You watch her as she carefully twists that strand of hair around her index finger absentmindedly.

"Here are your drinks," the waiter interrupts, setting down a sprite in front of Jade and a pitcher of applejuice in front of you, along with a glass full of ice. "And here are your breadsticks." He places a basket of breadsticks onto the table in between the two of you and then walks off towards the kitchen. You reach for one and Jade pulls the basket away in front of her, holding it captive and staring at you.

"Okay, tell me what's up. You've been acting really weird lately," she demands.

"Nothing is 'up'. I'm fine," you tell her. She continues holding the basket in disbelief.

"You're lying to me. I can tell. Something has been bothering you." You don't want to lie to her, but under the circumstances, you'd rather keep to yourself this time. What would you say? _"Oh, not much, Jade. I just think I'm in love with you or whatever. You know, nothing too big."_ That definitely wasn't going to happen. You think up a clever fib, just enough to hold her off.

"I've just been thinking about the game and missing everyone." In all honesty, you aren't telling much of a fib. You really do miss everyone and, hell, it sure was nice to see your Bro again, regardless of whether or not he could match to the one you grew up with, but it hasn't been the main thing plaguing your mind. She places the bread basket back at the middle of the table and you reach for a breadstick.

"Oh. Me too." Her face becomes solemn and you punch yourself for using such a strong tactic, because it's something that, even though it had never been expressed out loud before, you all thought it. You guess that it hits her a little harder because she spent a lot of the rest of the game either trapped on a ship or playing for the dark side. Not her fault, of course, but it certainly prevented her from being able to be with many of your friends. A pang of pain goes through your heart when you think about how she might think of Davesprite, too.

The two of you continue to sit in silence until food is placed on your table. Both of you suddenly forget the prior conversation and begin shoveling food down your throats, you more than anything after remembering that you didn't have lunch.

"So, Dave," she says through a bite of ravioli, "You were making music again?" When she asks the question this time, it isn't so much as wondering if you had done it as it was prompting questions such as, "What are you making?" or, "Do you love doing it again?"

"Yeah. After you mentioned it I thought that I should try it out again. It had been a while and _damn_ , did it feel nice to do it again. I hadn't noticed how much I missed it until I did it again," you admit. You watch as her chartreuse eyes seem to light up.

"We should make music again!" she exclaims. You feel your heart race and stomach do somersaults after she says it. You were kind of hoping that she would want to do that again. You couldn't imagine mixing beats without Harley right beside you.

"Definitely," you smirk. "Have you used your bass in a while?"

"No, but I'll certainly do it again so that we can mix some hella beats," she beams. You give her a small head nod and return to your meal in order to finish it, your mind screaming with excitement.

Not too long after the two of you finish up your meals and you pay for both. You get up and exit the restaurant, feeling the crisp, breezy air hit your face. Jade grabs her arms, her teeth chattering.

"Geez, I forgotten about how cold it's been getting at night. It's perfect during the day when the sun is shining, but at night it's cold as hell," she comments.

"Want my jacket?" your mouth blurts before your brain even has time to process it.

"Would that be alright?" she asks. You nod your head and relinquish the jacket to her, watching as she bundles up inside it. "Much better," she hums, hugging it tightly. You continue walking off down the illuminated sidewalks in the dark, making sure you stay extra close to her. John was right about one thing: these streets were definitely dangerous in the dark, and while Jade may be able to hold her own pretty well, she sure could use a little extra protection.

As you walk back to the apartment, neither of you says something, but unlike before during previous conversations, it was a comfortable sort of silence. It was peaceful out, and the sound of the wind rushing past your ears kind of lulled you. You eventually end up at your apartment and ascend the steps. You pull your key out of your pocket and open the door, allowing her to shuffle inside first. You follow behind her into the (suspiciously) quiet apartment. She makes her way to the hallway where all of your rooms lie, hers right next to yours, only a little bit of space separating them. She turns around to look at you.

"Thanks for dinner tonight. It was great," she grins. "Oh! Sorry, here's your jacket." She hands it back over to you, and to be honest, you wouldn't have even noticed or cared that she took it.

"Thanks. I had a hella fantastic time hanging around you, that's for sure," you admit. She lingers a bit, biting her lower lip and staring up at you, and you really, _really_  consider just reaching over and kissing her, but you hold yourself back. "Night, Jade." Her face deflates a little, but she continues smiling, nevertheless.

"Night, Dave," she says softly, returning into her room and closing the door gently. You return to your room for the night, kicking yourself mentally for not kissing her. You let out a long sigh and shut the door behind you, plopping down on the bed, kicking off your shoes, and returning to mixing some damn good beats.


	2. Need Your Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Need Your Love by The Temper Trap

For the second day in a row, your face makes acquaintances with the floor. When you roll over this time, you are facing Rose, not John. Closer inspection reveals that she looks absolutely pissed at you. Not that it's different from any other day.

"Why didn't you kiss her?!" she yells at you.

"Shut up!" you exclaim, scrambling to get up off the floor to cover her mouth. "She might hear you!"

"Oh, she's gone to orientation at work for the day," Rose swats your hand away. "Why didn't you kiss her?" You shrug.

"It didn't seem like the right time."

"Right time? _Right time?_ I made John stay out of the house past midnight so that you could make your move on her! Do you know how exceptionally hard that is? Trying to keep him out of the house without due cause? He rambled on and on and on for an hour about how to make banana bread taste good!" she growls with frustration.

"How _do_ you make banana bread taste good?" you scratch the back of your head, yawning.

"Why aren't you taking this seriously?" she swats you with a rolled up magazine that she manifested out of practically nowhere.

"What do you want me to do, travel back in time so I can make out with her? That'd be fucking stupid," you cross your arms. "Besides, she probably didn't want to kiss me, anyway." Rose groans, slapping her hand to her face.

"Dave, the reason why I volunteered you to go with her was because she wanted me to see if I could get you two alone. She's been wanting to talk to you." You raise your brow.

"Yeah, we talked. It was mostly her trying to figure out what was wrong with me when the only thing that was wrong with me was liking her way too much," you furrow your brows. She hits you in the arm again, harder this time. "Ow! Jesus fuck, why do you keep doing that?!"

"Because she likes you, Dave! She wanted the two of you to be alone because she likes you! Apparently you're too imbecilic to take any notice of that, though!" she exclaims. You stare blankly at her.

"What."

"Dave, do I really have to clarify this? I made it pretty simple." You stare at her, dumbfounded. She sighs. "Okay, I'll make this as simple as possible." She looks around your room and eventually finds a slip of paper and a pen. She scrawls something down quickly then holds it in front of your face. It's a poorly drawn stick figure of you, Jade, and a heart, with a plus sign between you and Jade and an equal sign between Jade and the heart. "You, plus Jade, equals heart," she explains, pointing to each symbol as she goes along. You bat the piece of paper out of her hand, scowling.

"That's not what I mean. I meant, she actually likes me?" you ask. Rose nods her head.

"I've known since during SBURB." It takes you a minute or two to wrap your head around that. You kind of already knew you harbored somewhat of strong feelings for her during the game, but it never really occurred to you that you could possibly fall in love with her until sometime after it. Apparently, she had it figured out way beforehand. Which also leads to some questioning about her relationship she had with a certain feathery asshole.

"How could I be so blind?" you mutter. Rose's frustration with you has subsided at this point, and her gaze calms.

"She didn't wear that elegant '3 AM' dress for nothing, you know." You kick yourself even harder in the head this time.

"Aw, shit. She dolled herself up for me out in that cold-as-fuck snow and I just ran around willy nilly pretending like her feelings didn't exist knowing full well she would pump me full of lead at the end of our excursion? I am the absolute shittiest person in the world right now," you berate yourself.

"You did get a kiss out of it," Rose smirks raising her brow.

"Yeah, but I wasn't exactly 'there' to consider it a real kiss. I don't think kissing a dead corpse constitutes as a good first kiss," you clarify. "Oh shit, I was that poor girl's first kiss?! She had to kiss my fucking bloody dead body?! That's it, I definitely deserve a trophy or medal or some kind of prize for being the worst human being in the entire universe," you sigh with chagrin. Rose puts a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

"If it makes you feel any better, she never said she regretted the kiss, albeit the circumstances. And now is a good time as any to try and fix that, first by FUCKING KISSING HER!" Rose screeches at you, returning to her normal and true state of 'annoying sibling'.

"Wow, and to think we were having a moment, a bond only shared between two beloved siblings," you put a hand to your chest. "It hurts, Rose. I am really distraught by your hurtful words." She sighs. The door opens and you two turn your heads to see a distraught John.

"Are you guys having a secret meeting without me?" he whimpers. Rose rolls her eyes at him.

"Of course not, John. We would never leave a dear friend out of a secret meeting. We were just discussing sibling stuff. I'm sure if you wanted to discuss sibling stuff you could just go talk to Jade," she suggests.

"Nah, that's fine. I'll just let you two get back to . . . ecto . . . sibling stuff . . . or whatever," he responds retreating to the hallway. Rose turns back towards you.

"You don't have to kiss her right away. At least talk to her about relationship stuff. I'm sure she'd love to hear your deepest sincere regrets for being her first 'dead' kiss," she smirks, abandoning you in your own room. You rub your eyes, groaning. You hate talking about 'relationship stuff'. Feelings were not a subject you touched on often (go figure.) You decide that Rose is right in the end. Jade deserves to know things.

Just . . . not right now.

You notice you are still wearing your sleepwear (you are glad that you wore red plaid pajamas instead of your ironic record boxers, despite Jade not being here) and decide to get dressed for the day. You seem to finally notice that the piles upon piles of clothing that had taken residence upon your floor have disappeared. Further speculation shows that they did not disappear, but are folded neatly on top of your dresser with a note placed delicately on top. You recognize the handwriting right off the bat.

Dave,

I hope you don't mind, but I had some free time this morning (I couldn't really get to sleep all that well) and took the liberty of washing and drying all your clothes. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I did, indeed, wash your record boxers, as well ;) Hopefully this will clear up a lot of the clutter in your room. See you later!

<3 Jade

Damn, that's fucking adorable.

You feel bad that it had gotten so terrible in here that someone else had to clean your own laundry, and you feel even worse that Jade did it, but you are still glad that it's done, nonetheless. You pull on a pair of black jeans (your favorite) and cadet red t-shirt, smelling it briefly once you put it on. Yeah, you're definitely going to learn how to do laundry. Nothing beats the smell of freshly washed cotton.

Your eyes shift to the bed where your jacket lies, the only thing Jade _didn't_ wash. You knew that what you did with it was literally the uncoolest thing you could do, and Bro would probably be rolling in his grave right about now, but you don't care. You kept it by you because it smelled like her. She always smelled like freshly cut daisies. You take the jacket off the bed and slip it back on. No sense in being cold at any point today. You take one final sniff of it and then refrain from doing so again.

What you want to do with the rest of your day is completely undeterminable. You hadn't made any plans for anything for the past few weeks except for sleeping in and eating. Yesterday was the first day you actually did something, and that something was with Jade. Hell, anything you wanted to do right now included Jade, who seemed to be preoccupied with being an adult at the moment. A brilliant idea flashes into your mind.

You could get a job like a normal adult.

You decide that it's probably the best decision you have at the moment. You slip into your Converses and grab your wallet and iPhone off the top of your dresser, cramming it into your pocket. You walk out of your room, closing the door behind you as you go. You walk into the living room and see Rose sitting on the couch, typing away on her laptop. John is sitting in the recliner reading a book, _Plumbing For Dummies_. You figure he must be trying to be a plumber this week.

Bold choice, Buddy. Bold choice.

"Jade took the car?" you inquire. Rose looks up from her laptop.

"Yes, she needed it to get to work since it was back from the shop," Rose answers. "If you need to go out you can probably use the motorcycle," she tells you. You glance over at the key hook and see that, indeed, the keys are there once again. You figure someone must have picked it up from the shop this week.

"Sweet," you say, ready to stroll over to grab the keys.

"Wait," Rose stops you, "Where are you going?"

"To get a job," you shrug. She throws back her head in boisterous laughter until she realizes you're serious.

"Oh, my sincerest apologies. I thought that you were just being facetious," she deadpans, then raises her brow. "Was it really that easy?" she smirks. You let your face remain stoic.

"Bye, Rose. Good luck with the plumbing thing, John," you wave. John peers up from his book briefly to wave goodbye and then buries his face in it again in strained concentration. You really hope he finds something he wants to do soon, and you hope plumbing _isn't_ it.

You grab the keys to the motorcycle off the hook and then exit the apartment, descending down the steps once you're outside. You veer off to the left towards the parking lot for the rest of the cars of the apartment complex. Out towards the back of it is a locked shed, only accessible through a code on the door. You punch in the numbers 5-4-7-9-0 and then hear the pleasantly rewarding sound of the code being accepted. You open the door and peer through, seeing your motorcycle sitting inside.

"Oh, hell yes," you mumble to yourself with satisfaction. You take a good, long glance at the beautiful motorcycle in front of you. All four of you picked it out together, figuring that you might as well have two modes of transportation. John fought long and hard for the moped, but in the end, the motorcycle won. Of course.

It's a sleek, black Harley Davidson Sportster 1200, and boy howdy does it ride as smooth as a baby's bottom. You make a mental note to find a better analogy for that.

You look around for the helmet and find it on the ground next to the motorcycle. You take the helmet with you because there is no sense to go without safety. Cool dudes have gotta play it safe, too, sometimes.

Afterward, you pull the motorcycle out of storage out onto the slick asphalt of the parking lot, closing the storage door behind you. You place the helmet on your head and climb atop the cushioned leather and insert the key into ignition. You pull the kickstand up with your foot and rev the vehicle to go, feeling cool wind upon your skin. You missed this feeling, for sure.

You don't know where you're going exactly but head in the central part of town where all the shopping and recreational activities happen. You slow down and look over the different stores. You definitely don't want anything like a job in say, a daycare (you can barely take care of yourself; what makes you think you could take care of twenty screaming children?), or even a coffee shop (they like to doll that shit up way too much and you only like your coffee black.) You almost lose hope and think you might have to pick a shitty job when . . . _bingo_.

You pull the motor vehicle into an available spot out front, turning it off and parking it. You push the kickstand down with your foot and climb off of it, placing the helmet delicately on the seat. You head inside the store to see if it really is worth your time.

This place is like heaven to you. It is filled wall-to-wall with records galore, old and new. All types of guitars hand proudly on the wall, screaming _"Buy me! Buy me!"_ Would that you could, guitars. Would that you could. You do save that thought for perhaps a later time.

Meanwhile, you walk up to the front counter, facing the salesperson, 'Mitch' as it says on his tag. He is a middle aged man with hair that is just beginning to gray, giving him a nice 'salt and pepper' look to him. He has a full beard and bronze skin and is leaning a little towards the heavy side. All that aside, he seems like a pretty rad dude, someone that you would definitely love working with.

"Hi, welcome to 'Just My Forte'. May I help you?" Mitch asks.

"Yeah, I was, uh, wondering if you were hiring," you manage to let the words out. You really need to work on your people skills.

"Actually, we are. Would you like to fill out an application?" He picks up a blue sheet of paper from behind him and places it on the counter in front of you, along with a pen.

"Definitely," you nod your head, grabbing the pen and filling out the form. You fill in all the normal information and all the odds and ends, handing him back the sheet when you're done. He looks over the sheet carefully.

"You make your own music?" he inquires. You nod your head. " . . . Da da da da da . . . online diploma . . . da da da da da . . . own turntables . . . seems pretty sound to me," he says, and you laugh a little at the unintentional pun. You curse Egbert for getting you so used to humor like that. You're not really into cheesy things. "Well, since I've seen no one else coming in here to get a job and you seem pretty qualified, you're hired."

"Really?" you raise your eyebrows in excitement.

"Yup. If this were a chain restaurant or something I'd have to wait a little bit before hiring, but since it's not and I'm the owner in need of help, you seem like the man for the job. You'll start tomorrow at say . . . eight in the morning?" He holds out his hand and you shake it, overjoyed at how easy it was to get yourself a job. You exit the store, realizing you only blew a total of forty minutes. You get an idea and hop on your bike, revving it up to go.

It doesn't take you long to find a Chinese restaurant nearby, pick up a couple cartons of Lo Mein, a pair of chopsticks, and to head on your way to the museum. You figure that while you're out you might as well pay a dear friend a visit.

You park your bike out at the front of the museum before the steps, putting the kickstand down for support. You pull the two boxes of Lo Mein out of the compartment and shut it, replacing the helmet back on top of the bike. You ascend the stairs of the museum, walking up to the entrance. You happen to spot Jade through the glass exterior and wave to her, holding up the boxes of Lo Mein mouthing, "Lunch?" She catches your eye and waves back, mouthing the word, "Yes" happily. She holds up a finger as to say, "Wait a minute", and runs away inside the museum. You take a seat on the concrete steps and wait for her.

She comes out of the museum not too long after, her purse slung on her shoulder.

"I'm so glad you dropped by! I was actually just about to be off for lunch, anyway," she grins, taking a seat next to you on the steps. You hand her a box of Lo Mein and a pair of chopsticks. "Oh, you go Lo Mein! My favorite!" She pulls the chopsticks out of their sleeve and breaks them apart, opening the box afterward and sticking the chopsticks right in. "Mmm, delicious!" she mumbles through a mouthful of Lo Mein.

"Yeah, I was out and about and figured I'd pick up some lunch and drop by," you say nonchalantly. "I figured my best bet was Chinese food."

"Well, you really know a way to a girl's heart!" she exclaims through another biteful of food. She chokes on it a bit when she realizes what she said, swallowing it quickly. "I mean . . . uh . . . " she trails.

"Yeah, we should probably talk . . . " you begin, looking off to the side.

"Talk? About what?" she presses further. You can't believe how forward you just were.

"About . . . things . . . " you mutter awkwardly. Her chartreuse eyes light up, almost staring you down. You feel your chest get tighter.

"What kinds of 'things'?" she continues her inquiry.

"You know . . . things . . . that certain people need to talk about . . . when they need to talk about things--Oh c'mon, Jade, you know perfectly well what I'm talking about!" you exclaim, giving up your bumbling charade. She giggles.

"I'm sorry, it was just cute when you were being all awkward and nervous," she tells you. It's your time to choke this time. You look at her, feeling heat rise to your cheeks, and notice that she's being absolutely sincere this time. She beams her signature buck-toothed smile at you and then takes another bite of her food.

"Come again?" you ask, dumbfounded. She sighs.

"Oh, c'mon, Dave, you know perfectly well what I'm talking about," she parrots you, smirking.

"Yeah, just making sure we were on the same page here," you clarify, still thrown off by her comment. You both knew that you already liked each other, but hearing her say that made it a bit more . . . real. You notice her stand up on the steps.

"Sorry, Dave, I have to go back into work. I should be only taking night shifts starting tomorrow, so if you want hang out in the afternoons--" she says, but you cut her off.

"Actually, I'll be pretty busy during the afternoons. I got a job today," you explain, standing up to her level. She beams with excitement.

"Really? Good for you!" she claps with approval. "Where at?"

"A record store in town called, 'Just My Forte'," you tell her. She snorts.

"Should've figured. Well, wanna hang out later tonight? I'll be back by six," she suggests.

"Oh yeah, definitely," you scratch the back of your head, giving her one of your signature side-smirks in return. The two of you stand there awkwardly for a moment in silence, waiting for the other to say something. Eventually you settle on a brief, gawky hug, releasing after a few seconds. She grabs her box and waves, leaving to return to her job. You remember something, suddenly.

"Hey, Jade!" you call out to her. She turns around to face you. "Sorry I was your first, dead kiss!" A puzzled expression graces her face but she lets out a small, breathy laugh, shaking her head.

"You're strange, but okay," she waves again, turning around to retire to the building, abandoning you at your spot on the steps. You pick up the empty carton of Lo Mein that belonged to you and toss it in the trash can. You make your way back to your bike and place the helmet on your head before hopping on it again to return back to your apartment.

You return to the apartment after placing the motorcycle back in the shed, placing the keys on the key hook on your way into the apartment. Rose is no longer there, but John is bumming it on the couch, slouched back staring lazily at the television screen. He glances over at you.

"Hey, man. How'd the job search go?" he asks.

"Oh, pretty well. I got a job at a record store," you shrug. "Where's Rose?" His eyes narrow.

"She's out." He pauses for a moment before saying, "You know, you can talk to me about Jade. I'm not exactly that stupid." The comment takes you by surprise.

"Huh?"

"Well, first of all, you talk in your sleep, so when I woke you up the other day you were muttering, 'Jade.' Secondly, if your conversation didn't involve me and it certainly didn't involve Jade, then I presumed it was about Jade. Unless you have the hots for me and I didn't know it," he smirks. You roll your eyes.

"Yes, it is true. I, Dave Strider, have the hots for you," you draw out sarcastically. John snorts in response. "But in all seriousness, I'm sorry I didn't talk to you."

"You know you can talk to me, man. I know Jade's my ectobiological sister, but that doesn't mean she isn't my friend. You're my friend, too, and you shouldn't keep secrets from me. You can talk to me about your weird obsession with my sister. I won't tell her you keep a lock of her hair in your room," he smiles smugly.

"Hardee har har," you sigh. He scoots over and pats the spot on the couch next to him.

"Wanna watch 'Con Air' with me?" You should've figured he was watching that goddamn awful movie, but you comply regardless. You need some bro time. All you've ever seen is Rose, who, as supportive as she is, always insists on being a pest, and Jade, who you have on your mind regardless. You could certainly use some quality bonding time with John. You take up the seat next to him and he smiles his goofy smile (much like Jade's except it doesn't send your heart into cardiac arrest everytime you see it.) You let out a small chuckle and John presses the 'play' button on the remote. It's about time you and good ol' Nic Cage got comfortable.

"So, _chicks_ , man," John says.

"Chicks, man," you nod your head.

"That's why I'm saving myself for Liv Tyler. She is truly the only one for me," John coos dreamily. You roll your eyes.

"Of course you are." The two of you turn your attention towards the television to continue watching the movie, even though you frankly don't care about it and John could probably do a one-man reenactment of it right in your living room.

After Con Air is over the two of you go through a couple of other movies (i.e. National Treasure 1 & 2, because you were lucky enough to have enough time to see both of them.)

"Okay, so, like, if the president and Nic Cage got into a fight who would win?" John asks.

"I'm going to have to say our esteemed leader could totally roundhouse kick Cage's ass into the next millenia," you respond, taking a handful of popcorn from the bag John recently popped.

"Okay, so, what if a slice of pizza and a piece of pie got into a fight?"

"What kind of pie is it?"

"Apple."

"Definitely the pie."

"Hey, guys. What are you up to?" Jade inquires, placing her purse and jacket on the dining room table, a puzzled expression upon her face.

"We're asking each other deep, philisophical questions while watching National Treasure 2," you respond. She snorts and you notice John rise from the couch.

"Weeeeeellll, I guess I better go . . . do . . . the thing . . . I'll see you guys later," John rushes out of the room quickly. On his way out, you hear Rose being pushed out of the house after walking in. You can't make out their conversation, but you do hear, "What are you doing, John," from Rose and, "Shh! Let them have their private time!" from John, followed by the sound of the front door shutting. You and Jade are left alone in the apartment.

"Wanna watch a movie?" you ask her after a moment of awkward silence. She nods her heads, joining you on the couch. "We don't have to watch this one, though."

"This one's fine--" she begins, but you cut her off.

"We _don't_ have to watch this one," you stress desperately, holding firmly onto her arm. She finally catches your drift and walks over to the entertainment center, opening up the drawer full of DVDs.

"What do you wanna watch?" she calls out. You shrug. She sifts through them, muttering, _"Nope"_ , as she searches for one she deems appropriate. She finally pulls one out and stares at it a moment before jumping up, opening the case, grabbing the DVD, and placing it in the DVD player. She closes the box and sets it on top of the entertainment center and then bounces back over to the couch, plopping down next to you.

"What'd ya put in?" you raise your brow.

"When Harry Met Sally. It's a classic," she replies making herself comfortable on the couch. She leaves only an inch of space between you and her, and you feel your heart pound faster. You realize that you're still slouching in your seat from your bro-fest with John and you sit up immediately, leaving your hands resting on either side of you on the couch.

The movie starts up and neither of you speak a single word, concentrating on everything but the other. It suddenly occurs to you that, although it had not been expressly stated, both of you were alone . . . on a Friday night . . . watching a romantic comedy together . . . you were on a date. You suddenly feel your whole body get tense.

You miss out on the first twenty minutes of the movie due to your brain strategizing what moves to pull on her. Do you casually just drape your arm over her shoulder? Do you yawn and _then_ casually drape your arm on her shoulder? Do you just go in for the kill and kiss her? You realize that you've been out of the game for way too long.

Suddenly you feel something cool touch your skin and notice that Jade's taken the liberty of making the first move herself by intertwining her fingers between your warm ones. You glance over at her and see that she's concentrated on watching the movie, but also take notice of the small grin forming on her mouth. You mimic her and scoot a little closer, pressing up against her. A shiver of heat runs through your veins and you feel absolutely fantastic. You could get used to this.

A creak of the door jolts you awake as you see Rose and John slip into the hallway. You take a notice of the screen, noticing that the movie ended quite some time ago. You look down at your chest and see Jade's head pressed up against it, her body moving up and down with each breath. You flatten her hair down a couple of times before carefully reaching into your pocket to grab your phone and check the time. You turn it on and the bright screen reads 1:45 AM. You place it back in your pocket, realizing it was a stupid thing to do. You already know what time it is.

You gently move Jade off of you onto the couch, stand up, and stretch your arms over your head, yawning. You then return to her and support your arms under her back and legs, picking her up in your arms to carry her off to bed. She's lighter than you thought (your glad you don't have weak arms anymore, that's for sure) and you take her effortlessly down the hallway into her room. You place her delicately on her bed full of squiddles (and she was making fun of _you_ earlier for wearing your record boxers still) and drape one of her blankets over her, tucking her in. You then remove her circular glasses from her face and set them on her sidetable next to her bed. She shifts a little, her glowing chartreuse orbs barely making an appearance, and stretches out her arms to you.

"C'mon, Jade, I gotta get up in the morning," you tell her. You can hear her whimper a little, still stretching out her arms. You shake your head, sighing, and climb in next to her. She buries herself into your chest and drifts back to sleep. You rest your chin on top of her head and wrap your arms around her tightly before closing your eyes and falling asleep.

 

 

 

 


	3. Shot At the Night

You find yourself waking up groggily, coming to the realization that it was seven in the morning (you better start busting your ass to get ready for work) and that you were still asleep in Jade's room. She was no longer pressed up against you, a feeling that you were certainly missing. You also come to understand that you feel like you're at your absolute peak of euphoria, now that you were making music again, had a stable job, and that you get to be closer to Jade than you thought was possible. Life was certainly kick ass for a Mr. Dave Strider.

The past three days have consisted merely of you starting work, going on numerous (but unfortunately stay at home) dates with Jade, which ended with you curled up next to her in bed, cuddling. You had never really been all about cuddling before, you almost thought it was too cheesy for a cool guy like you to participate in, but with Jade, it was much different. You could be as cheesy as you liked around her and she would still think you were the coolest thing to appear on Earth since sliced bread.

You walk out into the dining room without changing out of your pajamas first, because fuck it, you're tired, hungry, and need a damn cup of coffee to jumpstart your day. Rose is the only one sitting at the table, sipping away at a cup of what you presume is Earl Grey tea. You've never seen her drink a cup of coffee in your life (at least, while you've been here) so more likely than not, it's tea. She's preoccupied with her normal task of reading, this time an actual novel instead of the newspaper.

"Jade go somewhere?" you ask her, yawning as you enter the kitchen. You grab a mug out of the cupboard (your ironic "World's Greatest Dad" cup) and begin pouring coffee in it.

"No, she went out to the store to get some groceries," she answers, nose still buried in her book. You take a sip of your coffee, feeling the warm substance crawl down your throat delightfully. You only like your coffee black and can't stand any sweet or sugary jacked up types of coffee. They taste disgusting to you.

"Oh," you say, passing by her to sit down in the seat next to her at the end of the table. She stops you with her hand and you turn to face her, confusion on your face.

"I have a little present for you." She hands you a small little plastic square and you feel your cheeks warm up with embarrassment.

"What--" you begin, but she cuts you off.

"In case things get hot and heavy. We're all adults now. I know you'll need it, that's for sure." You still feel the warmth in your face, embarrassed that your own _sister_ had to get something like that for you.

"Why do you even have one of these?!" you exclaim.

"You always need to be ready in case the situation arises," she says, taking a sip of her tea.

"Yeah, well, I thought you were into ladies," you raise your brow.

"Just because I dated a girl doesn't mean I'm specifically into girls, Dave," she answers. You don't press into the matter, figuring that you should just leave her business to herself. "Also, it never hurts to be prepared."

Rose returns to reading her novel and you stare at the little square in your hand. You set your coffee on the table and head off to your room. Once you're inside, you pick up your wallet off the dresser and place it inside. Rose was right: you never know when you'll need one. You place the wallet back on the dresser and exit your room, returning out into the kitchen to fix yourself a nice, healthy bowl of Apple Jacks.

After your breakfast, you retire to your room to quickly gather your bearings and get ready for work. You find a crimson, long-sleeve Henley shirt and pull it over your head, rolling up the sleeves as soon as it's on. You discard your pants and boxers for a fresher pair and a pair of dark jeans. You pull socks and sneakers quickly onto your feet, grab your wallet, shades, iPhone, and then speed off down towards the front door, grabbing the motorcycle keys on the way out. You were certainly not going to be late to work on the third day.

As soon as it's out of storage, you place the helmet on your head and insert the key into the ignition of the motorcycle, revving it up to go. You press the gas and make it go at a fast but reasonable speed, making your trek to the record shop. You only waste a little bit of time enjoying the familiar kiss of wind against your skin.

The trip takes you twenty minutes (five minutes withheld from your usual time) and you arrive at seven fifty-nine. Damn, do you know how to beat a clock or two. You turn off the vehicle and take the key out of the ignition, pushing the kickstand down with your foot. You climb off of it and take your helmet off, holding it at your waist as you walk inside the record shop casually.

Hmm, you're pushing the clock today," Mitch greets you, scrawling something on a clipboard. You smirk.

"Yeah, I know a thing or two about clocks, that's for sure." You go to the backroom and place your helmet on the table along with the keys to the motorcycle before returning to the counter. "Alright, what's up for today?"

"I'm gonna have you sort out those boxes of used CDs, those boxes of new CDs, those records, and the guitars. We're having a sale today on the instruments today," he explains. You nod your head and go to the area with the used CDs and begin sorting them alphabetically. It's not exactly what you'd call 'fun', but hey, you're getting paid, and pretty well since you're the only other employee in the store.

You finish sorting the CDs, records, and guitars by the time the store is open at ten in the morning. You don't normally have a rush of people, but you get plenty of good business. You assume it might be a little more crowded today what with the sale, but not too heavily populated from before. People only start showing up about forty-five minutes later, however, leaving you to meander around the store and fix anything you think is out of place. Mitch hands over responsibility of the cash register and you spend a good ten minutes popping it open and closing it.

At lunch, you walk to the restaurant next door and pick up a couple of burgers and fries for yourself and Mitch, bringing them to the small storage area/employees area to eat at a foldable table and chairs area Mitch set up himself. You toss the styrofoam containers on the table and you each take one, digging in as quickly as possible.

"You know, Dave," Mitch begins, swallowing his mouthful of food, "You should show me your supposed 'sick beats' you've been telling me about. I used to be in the music business and I might be able to hook you up with some sort of gig or something to put a bit of extra cash on the table."

"Sweet," you grin. "Unfortunately, I don't have it on me right now. I suppose I could get my," you hesitate for a second before settling on the word, " _Girlfriend_ to drop it by? Coincidentally, she's helped me out with a bit of it in the past. She plays the bass."

"Tell her to bring her bass by, as well. If she needs it, I could probably fix it up for her or re-string it, free of charge." You send him a small head nod and pull your phone out of your pocket, taking a look at your lock screen (Jade switched it to Squiddles, unbeknownst to you) and unlocking it, opening up the messages to text her.

12:56

DAVE: hey jade wanna pop over at the record store with your bass and my laptop for a bit the boss wants to hear some of our sweet tunes and to possibly restring your bass for free

DAVE: not that i have to bribe you to get you to come see my fucking movie star face and hot ass

JADE: of course dave!! :)

JADE: i'll go look around for my bass hold on

JADE: oh no!! i found it and the neck of it broke somehow :(

DAVE: thats okay bring it by anyway

DAVE: ill see what we can do with it

JADE: okay thanks!!

JADE: oh and hot ass?

JADE: really dave?

DAVE: you dont have to lie to me i know you think about my ass all the time

DAVE: the secrets out

DAVE: just call me 'hot ass' strider

JADE: okay whatever 'hot ass'

JADE: be over soon!

You are about to shove your phone into your pocket before you receive one last text:

JADE: <3

You are glad that no one is around to see your face because you're almost ninety-nine percent sure it's as red as your text color is. You respond really quickly before putting your phone to rest in your pocket.

DAVE: <3

You refuse to let anyone else know you did that.

You finish up your lunch before your break is over and toss the remanents of the meal into the metal trash can before the door. You return to the cash register and start messing around with the bobble head of Michael Jackson sitting right next to it. You only pop your head up once the door entrance bell rings and Jade enters, her hair tied up into a high ponytail and wearing a black, striped tank top with olive green shorts. Slung in a bag over her arm is your laptop and in her hands is her broken bass.

"How can we help you, Ma'am?" Mitch greets her.

"Oh, I'm here for Dave," she greets him sheepishly.

"You're the girlfriend, then?" Mitch smiles. Jade shoots a glance over at you, almost showing gladness that you call her that now. You warmth spread to your cheeks.

"Yeah, this is Jade," you stand up and walk around the counter to stand by her in order to introduce her. Mitch extends his hand.

"Hey, I'm Mitch, Dave's boss. I see you've got a bit of a problem with your bass?" She nods her head and he takes it from her gingerly. "Looks like this beaut's seen better days."

"It certainly has," Jade sighs. "I wish it didn't go so soon, but I should've known from years of unuse that it would wear really easily."

"I'll buy you a new one," you offer her. She raises her brow, a smile playing upon her face.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I might as well. We won't be able to create much music if your bass is out of commission. Besides, there's a sale, anyway. Go pick out whatever bass you want," you point over to the wall behind you. Jade squeals giddily, checking out all the different types of guitars.

"That girl is certainly lucky to have a nice gentleman like you around," Mitch comments. You nod your head.

"I would certainly hope so." Jade appears by your side, holding out a red and black Fender bass guitar.

"I want this one so it'll remind me of you when I play it," she bubbles. A sincere smile spreads across your face as your heart skips a beat. Her eyes widen. "Dave, was that actually a smi--" You cut her off, placing the guitar on the counter gently.

"We'll take this one." Mitch nods and goes behind the counter to make the transaction. You pull your wallet out of your pants pocket and take your debit card out, handing it to Mitch. He swipes it and hands it back, along with the receipt. You push the card back into your wallet and close it, sticking it back into its resting place. You gesture to the guitar for Jade to pick it up and instead she brings you into a tight, warm embrace.

"Thank you so much, Dave. You have no idea how much this means to me," she rests her head underneath your chin. You accept the hug and pet her hair. She lets go a moment later and picks the guitar off the counter. "This should be perfect after a few minor modifications . . . " Mitch looks at you raising a brow and you only shrug in response. She props the guitar against the counter for a moment and hands you your laptop bag. "As you requested, my dear knight."

You take the bag from her and set it on the counter, pulling the laptop out of the case and opening it. You find your headphones and plug them inside, handing them to Mitch. He puts them on and you go to your playlist, selecting the first track on the list. You take his place again behind the counter while he listens to the music in order to take care of any incoming customers. You talk to Jade while you wait for him to finish listening to everything.

"So, ready to make some ill beats with that baby?" you raise your brow.

"You know it! I've already got a few great ideas in store! I've been planning one for the past couple of days, so it should be good once I transfer it to the actually bass," she answers.

"Great, because I've been dying to make some new songs with you. That new Fender should do well for you," you tell her. She nods.

"I hope so."

"So, after I'm done with my shift today you wanna hang out and test out that guitar? We should have plenty of time before you have to go into work," you ask. She beams.

"Yes! I haven't been doing much all day except getting groceries and going to the library with Rose. It gets tiring after a while, let me tell you," she sighs. "She could practically live in there if she wanted to. I can barely sit still for a minute before I'm itching to go somewhere."

"Yeah, I could see how she's a total snoozefest. If she could marry books, I'm sure she would," you chuckle.

"Or wizards," Jade adds with a giggle. "Man, I wish you didn't have to work during the day. Or that I didn't have to work during the night. It'd be easier to _not_ get home at one-thirty in the morning."

"Yeah, well, I'm at least thankful that we actually _have_ jobs. Not that we really need them, but I just spent about eight hundred bucks on a guitar so the money is going fast," you say. "Besides, you can come visit me anytime you'd like, here. It's not like we're extremely busy here. Of course, not everyone knows that _I'm_ here yet, so once they find out, you're at a loss, Baby." She snorts.

"I'm sure that you're adoring fans are just drooling to find out what you're up to at all times. Before we know it, our apartment will be flooded with cameras. I'm sure there will be a few candid shots of you drooling while you sleep. We better not do anything too scandalous. We don't need to ruin your pristine reputation," Jade jests.

"Now you're getting it," you laugh. "Man, I'm so glad that I can relax for once. No stupid game quests to go on, no intense rooftop battles to be had. I kinda miss a lot of it, but at the same time, it feels good to be able to go home at the end of the day to a non-chaotic house and spend time with my non-chaotic girlfriend." You watch a bit of red spread across Jade's face, her buckteeth peeking through her mouth.

"I'm glad that I can be a stability in your life," she beams.

"Oh, I was talking about my life-size Beyonce cut out I keep in my closet. She's my rock, and once I have enough money, I'm gonna put a ring on her finger," you joke. Jade rolls her eyes. "What? You know Beyonce is the only one for me."

"Dave, this stuff is _amazing_ ," Mitch interjects abruptly. "You really know your way around those turntables of yours. Have you ever considered making a career out of this?"

"I haven't really had much time to think about careers . . . " you trail.

"Well, I hope you consider putting it to good use. I'm sure people would love to give this stuff a listen," he suggests. He turns to Jade, "And you, Miss Jade, have a talent with that bass guitar, for sure. You really know how to synchronize with Dave here really well. Mind playing us a tune or two?" Jade grins.

"Of course!" She picks up her new bass guitar and slides the strap over her shoulder, resting it comfortably against herself. She tunes it accordingly by ear without fail, even though she hasn't used it in years. She then plucks each string delicately, as if she were an angel brushing its fingers over a golden harp. You watch her carefully as she gets lost in her own music, an experience that you can relate to. She plays a total of three songs, melting your mind like butter with each one.

"Wow, you are very talented, indeed. Don't you lose this one, Dave. She's a real catch, for sure," Mitch tells you. You smile and nod your head, thinking to yourself that you definitely don't plan on it.

"Well, I should probably get back to the house. I haven't really had much to eat, so I'd like to fix that," Jade confesses.

"If you'd like to have the rest of the day off, Dave, I'll let you go early. I think I can handle this shop on my own," Mitch says.

"Awesome, man! Thanks," you smirk at your boss. You go to the back room collect your stuff, return to the counter to grab your laptop, and turn to leave with Jade.

"Don't forget to send me that music!" Mitch calls out to you as you're leaving. You give him a thumbs up and follow Jade out of the store. She gives you a peck on the cheek, telling you that she'll meet you at home and you wave goodbye to her, jumping on your motorcycle and revving it to go.

\------------------------------------------------

"Okay, so if you had to choose between having duck-sized horses or horse-sized ducks, which would you choose," Jade asks, rolled onto her side facing you on your bed.

"Definitely horse-sized ducks," you answer after serious thought.

"What? No! Definitely duck-sized horses would be better! Do you know how creepy it would be to see horse-sized ducks running all over the place?" she exclaims.

"I don't see the problem with that. I think it'd be pretty badass to ride a duck into battle. Just think about it." She laughs, buring her head into your chest.

"You are such a strange doofus," Jade says, booping your nose with the tip of her index finger. "Hey, wanna make some music now that we've killed some time?"

"Yeah, just let me go set up the turntables," you tell her, rising off the bed to go get them out of their spot in the closet. You place them on the bed and grab your record collection. She sits up to look at them.

"You know, I never knew how you were able to do this. Can you show me?" she inquires. You nod your head.

"Go ahead and pick out a couple of records and then I'll show you." She begins sifting through the pile and you take a seat on the edge of the bed next to her. She finally picks out a couple that suit her fancy, moves the needles on both sides, and puts them in their place before placing the needles neatly back on top.

"Now what?" she turns to you. You grab your headphones off your sidetable and plug them in, handing them to her. She puts them on and turns to you, waiting. You get on the bed and sit behind her to guide her from behind.

"Here, you turn them on, like so," you instruct, switching them on, "And then you place your left hand on the left record and your right hand on the right record." You guide her hands into place, letting them glide over the grooves of the records. She turns to you with a soft expression blatant upon her face, closing her eyes and leaning in. Your mind goes into alert mode as you get so close to pressing your lips upon hers, but--

"Oh, shoot, I've gotta get ready to go to work!" she gets up immediately, setting the headphones down on the bed and scrambling to get up and sprint off to her room. You let out a long sigh. You were never gonna kiss her, were you?

You get up from your bed and exit your room to go out into the den where John and Rose are sitting on the couch. You sit in between them.

"Hey guys. Wanna do something?" you ask. They look at you.

"I thought you were busy with Jade," John points out, putting extra emphasis on 'busy'.

"She has to go to work," you explain. "So is that a 'no', then?" you raise your brow.

"Oh, no, we do want to do something. Don't mind John," Rose tells you. "What was it you had in mind?" A mischevious smile creeps upon your face.

"Texas hold 'em," you answer. John groans but Rose grins mischeviously right back.

"Oh, you're _definitely_ on, Strider."

\------------------------------------------------

"What the fuck?! How can you be better at Texas Hold 'Em than me? I'm from Texas, for fucks sake!" you shout angrily as Rose reels in the pot, adding to her mountain of chips she had already accumulated.

"You just have to know how to play the game," she states nonchalantly.

"Play, my ass. You are _definitely_ cheating, Lalonde," you growl.

"Aw, the little baby is upset that he's being bested in his own game. Should I grab you a bib, perhaps? One made out of leather with a heart upon it? Or should I grab your apple juice in a sippy cup from the kitchen?" she jests. You frown.

"I hate you." She chuckles.

"I love you, too, Dave." John groans beside you.

"Uggghhhh, is this game ever going to be over? It's like playing Monopoly with a toddler as the banker!"

"In due time," Rose pats his shoulder. You're about to shuffle and deal the deck when your phone buzzes. You pick it up off the table and unlock it. There are a couple messages from Jade left on it. You read them.

22:04

JADE: hey do you mind picking me up some dinner?

JADE: i was in too much of a hurry to grab some before i left :/

DAVE: yeah sure ill get you some

DAVE: chinese food okay

JADE: yes please!! :)

JADE: oh and if you want some too you can eat with me!

DAVE: yeah i probably should i havent eaten yet

DAVE: this poker game with rose and john has been intense

DAVE: rose is kicking my ass i am ashamed to say

JADE: your 'hot ass'?

JADE: ;)

DAVE: hell yeah

DAVE: anyway ill be over soon with food

JADE: oh bring a blanket!!

JADE: we can have a picnic and everything!

DAVE: alright can do

DAVE: see you soon

JADE: <3

"Okay, guys, I gotta go. My lady needs me," you rise from the table to abandon Rose and John.

"Afraid of getting your ass kicked?" Rose raises a brow. "Or perhaps maybe it's a booty call?"

"Veeeeery funny. No, she didn't get dinner and her shift ends at like two. It'd be a crime not to get her some food," you explain. You leave them at the table and return to your room to grab a blanket to take with you. You go back out into the hallway, grabbing the keys to the motorcycle and exiting the house. You do the usual of getting the motorcycle out and speed away on it to grab food for you and Jade.

The entire trip takes about thirty minutes and eventually you arrive outside the dark steps of the museum. You pull out your phone to text Jade that you're here.

22:45

DAVE: im here

DAVE: with food if thats the entry ticket or whatever

JADE: oh the front doors are unlocked

JADE: just take a left and go to the astronomy room

DAVE: ok got it

You ascend the stairs and enter through the front doors into the pitch black museum. You turn the light on your phone on and find your way to the astronomy room. When you get there, you find Jade all dolled up wearing an empire, jet black dress that is very reminiscent of the dress she wore years ago on LOFAF. She is sitting on the cushioned bench when she spots you. She gets up, and even though you only really have your phone to light up the room, you can still see a visible blush creep upon her face.

"I'm sorry, I know it seems like I trapped you, but I just wanted to have a date out for once. You're not mad at me, are you?" she furrows her brows with worry. You chuckle.

"Nah, you're fine. I guess it's my fault for not making time for one. Don't worry about it. Besides, who am I to walk away from this gorgeous woman in front of me?" you say smoothly. She smiles and pats the bench. You set the blanket down on top of it and then place the bag of food on top. She takes your phone from you and turns it off, pointing upward.

"The stars are bright enough." Sure enough, the ceiling of the room is illuminated with tiny, twinkling stars. They aren't real, but damn if you weren't fooled at first. You take a seat on the bench and she plops down delicately next to you, grabbing her food out of the bag and opening it to eat.

"I figured this would be the best place to come," she mumbles through a mouthful of food like she always does. "Besides, I like the stars."

"I know you do," you say softly, watching her bright green eyes light up as bright as the faux stars above. She says nothing for a moment but looks off to the side, as if contemplating something.

"Dave, did I ever do anything bad when I was . . . you know . . . bad?" The question throws you off a bit because it's so random, but one look at her face and you realize it's something that was plaguing her for a while.

"Well, besides almost throwing the Mayor into lava, you didn't do anything _too_ terrible. I mean, at least that I'm aware of. You certainly didn't go cracking skulls, that's for sure." She takes a moment to soak all this information in before following it up.

"Did you like me during the game? You know, _like me_ like me?"

"Jade, I had the rage hots for you like mess," you confess. "Except we were barely ever together except for that one time you pumped me full of lead and then that other time you tried to get me to fight you. You were all, 'Dave, fight me irl! Fight me irl!' and I was like, 'Nah, I ain't about that life'. It was a very intense discussion." She laughs.

"Okay, well, there was one thing else that I kind of barely remember you saying. You said that you would never hurt me like Davesprite did," she squeaks. "Is that true?" You stare at her and really get a good look at her this time, in the full starlight. As innocent as she may seem to be, she is absolutely, one hundred percent, a woman. This beautiful, wonderful, Amazon princess seated in front of you is Jade Harley. She's placed all the trust she could muster into one bet that you'll always be there for her. How could you say no to her? You wouldn't _dare_. It then occurs you to act on instinct for once, and suddenly you're pushing the cartons of food onto the floor and closing the gap in between you and her as your hands delicately cup her face, your lips pressed tightly upon hers. She is tense underneath you at first, then loosens after shock sets aside. You pull away quickly, licking your lips afterward.

"I'm sorry, I really felt like that was the moment to, you know, kiss you," you say sheepishly. "I would nevermmmfgh!" You are quickly cut off by Jade crashing her lips upon yours, hungrily grasping to keep the kiss going. She presses against you, holding you tightly to her. You attempt to raise your hand to grasp her cheek but she presses you down onto your back, straddling herself onto your hips. Her tongue grazes over your lower lip and you let a small moan escape your lips. You push her away, only for a second. She frowns.

"Is this okay?" she asks. You rub your thumb across her cheek.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I needed a moment to get a breath in," you breathe heavily. She smiles widely and _god_ , are you so turned on. She tugs at your shirt to pull it off quickly and throws it on the floor once it's over your head. You take the liberty of chucking your shades onto the floor because, at this point, you don't really give a fuck. She mimics you and tosses hers onto the ground, obviously not giving a fuck either. You let her have a genuine, Strider grin for once in your life and she gasps, pressing her fingers over the corners of your mouth.

"You should smile more often, Dave! I like it," the corners of her mouth tug upward. You chuckle.

"For you, anything," you say. She gazes at you softly, taking in all of you.

"You wanna do this?" she asks. You grab your wallet from your pocket and wave it in front of her face.

"Bob's your uncle," you tell her. You toss it on the floor next to you and then carefully unzip her dress, kissing her lips once again, and then her neck. You were certainly the luckiest man on Earth right now. You'd be willing to bet anything on that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah it was totes a booty call  
> \----------------------------  
> Shot At the Night by The Killers
> 
> [AUTHOR'S NOTE: So I'm officially discontinuing this, as stated in the tags. I just don't like it as much as when I first worked on it, and I'm working on (better) different ones that I like more. If you want one just like this, go read my fic "the district sleeps alone tonight". It's sadder, but it'll end on a happy note and I just like the feel of it better. Thank you to all who read this awhile back, and I'm sorry I never finished it.]

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so new fic.
> 
> Also, I'm not updating my other fic, Anyone Else But You for another week.
> 
> Also also, the titles of the chapters are going to be songs, so I'll post what the artist is at the end of each chapter. Enjoy!
> 
> ~First Time Caller by White Lies


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